Players Knicks Should Target in Free Agency
The New York Knicks have to take swings at the NBA's top free agents.
The Eastern Conference franchise missed out on all of the marquee names last offseason, but there is hope the new leadership within the team can lure one or two top players to Madison Square Garden.
New York's primary target should be a point guard to partner the young core headlined by its past two first-round picks, R.J. Barrett and Obi Toppin.
Obtaining Fred VanVleet's signature will not be an easy task, but then again, no free-agent hunt really is.
On top of looking for a point guard, the Knicks could use more help in the paint to support Toppin.
The Knicks will not have the chance to land a generation big man similar to Anthony Davis, but they can find a functional frontcourt star who will help them to improve during Tom Thibodeau's first year as head coach.
Players Knicks Should Target in Free Agency
Fred VanVleet
The Knicks should always make a run at the top free agent every offseason.
That strategy has not worked out for the franchise in the past few years, but it still has to make an effort to lure VanVleet to New York City.
New York does not have the immediate title aspirations of the Toronto Raptors, but if they land the 26-year-old point guard, they could take a massive step forward in the postseason hunt.
The Knicks have Dennis Smith Jr., Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina on the roster at point guard. All of those players would be fine fits behind a primary ball-handler.
VanVleet would be a significant improvement over all three of those players. He would easily become the most notable player on the Knicks roster if he chose to sign in the Big Apple.
The undrafted guard out of Wichita State developed into the top unrestricted free agent on the market by increasing his points-per-game total by six during the 2019-20 season. In fact, VanVleet progressed in every major statistical category and recorded the second-highest field-goal and three-point percentages of his four-year career.
If VanVleet wants to win another championship, Toronto would have the edge over any suitor. New York would have to outbid Toronto and use a good chunk of its $40-plus million in cap space to lure VanVleet to a team viewed as a project that is not guaranteed of a playoff berth in the 2020-21 season.
Were the Knicks to land VanVleet, they could piece together a starting five with him, Toppin, Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson or they could go after a second free agent to pair with the point guard in their ideal scenario.
Christian Wood
At the start of 2020, Christian Wood was an unknown frontcourt player in the eyes of casual NBA fans.
After his production exploded for the Detroit Pistons, he all of a sudden became one of the most coveted big men on the market. Wood is a fine player, but his name being on the free-agent marquee speaks to the lack of overall depth in this year's class.
Once Andre Drummond was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wood reeled off 16 straight double-digit performances. Those are the numbers NBA executives and coaches will look at when evaluating how much to pay him.
The Knicks could be intrigued by Wood's skill set to improve the overall paint presence. Thibodeau may want to land him to fill out a competitive starting five while working to fine-tune his game.
New York faces a similar challenge in landing Wood than it does with VanVleet. There is a decent chance Wood re-signs with the Detroit Pistons and becomes the focal point of their young lineup down low.
If the Knicks can only land Wood and not VanVleet, they would still improve. That would take the pressure off Robinson and Oturu, who can then be secondary scoring options. In that situation, the Knicks would still need help at the point, but they would have to feel some type of satisfaction in landing one of this year's top free agents.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.
